Retevis RA25- 20W GMRS mobile

[amaff]

11 minutes ago, WSCF389 said:

I’m running the ra25 GMRS radio in my shack right now and I’m impressed with it. You can’t change many settings unfortunately it’s all locked up

That is fixable

[WSCF389]

Do you happen to have a chirp file I can upload to it? 

[WRYS709]

Last I checked the Ra-25 still does not work with CHIRP.

[amaff]

It doesn't. But the Anytone / Retevis / Radioddity software...well, it isn't completely awful and it does the job lol

[WRYS709]

2 hours ago, amaff said:

It doesn't. But the Anytone / Retevis / Radioddity software...well, it isn't completely awful and it does the job lol

I do not have access to the Ra-25; only the DB20-G and the AT-779UV.

In my experience, downloading and experimenting with the Ra-25 software, it creates code plugs that cannot be opened and hence nor modified and used by the Radioddity and Anytone CPS software.

Is your experience different?

[amaff]

I honestly can't speak to the Retevis software. I've only used the DB20-G software (as that's the radio I have)

[WRYS709]

Noted.

[WSDU488]

What rechargeable battery can I buy for this radio.  I want to put it in a man pack for on the go.  Could I use a Power-Sonic Rechargeable Sealed Lead Acid Battery PS-1270 12V 7.0 AH @ 20-hr. 12V 6.5 AH @ 10-hr?

Here's the link: https://amzn.to/4lqtbu6 Can someone help me with this?  

[Jaay]

1 hour ago, Socalgmrs said:

You can use any 12v battery you want from a very small one to a huge one you would not want to carry.  Just like any other 12v dc based mobile/base radio.  The real question is why would you want to carry it around when a 5w hand held and a basic 771 antenna can do well over 60miles line of site.   And add a better base/mobile antenna and you’re gonna hit 100miles.  What’s the infatuation with dragging around a base/mobile 20w radio?  If it’s a shtf situation dragging a round a big radio and battery is not on my list.   Food water and other brass essentials are.  

We're wishing your batteries would just go DEAD, with Silly responses like that.

[Jaay]

2 hours ago, WSDU488 said:

What rechargeable battery can I buy for this radio.  I want to put it in a man pack for on the go.  Could I use a Power-Sonic Rechargeable Sealed Lead Acid Battery PS-1270 12V 7.0 AH @ 20-hr. 12V 6.5 AH @ 10-hr?

Here's the link: https://amzn.to/4lqtbu6 Can someone help me with this?  

Check www.powerwerx.com OR batteriesamerica.com they can help you with whatever you want to do.

[WRYZ926]

There is nothing wrong with wanting a portable GMRS setup that will put out 20-50 watts. I like using 10 AH or 12AH lipo4 batteries for 20 watt or less radios. Most 10 AH lipo4 are the same size as the batteries in computer battery backup systems. The lipo4 batteries are quite a bit lighter.

I like the Redodo brand of lipo4 batteries when it comes to 50 AH or 100 AH batteries. A group 24 lipo4 batterie will be half the weight of a standard group 24 lead acid deep cycle battery.

And just ignore Negative Nancy with his negative waves.

[WRYZ926]

14 hours ago, Socalgmrs said:

If you have ever needed to carry a ruck for any length of time you and others would understand my point.  If I’m hiking for fun and I just want to hike to the top of the highest peak and talk to strangers I’ve got an ht.  It does 60miles easy. If it’s a shtf type of thing I don’t want to waste valuable weight dragging around a radio that will be mostly useless anyway.  Your support of this tells me about your life experiences or lack there of.   Food water and protection from the weather and people is priority not a useless radio. Besides what type of coax gonna use? Light weight and full of loss?  How high and how is an antenna gonna get?   

Yes I have rucked plenty. I was both airborne and air assault qualified, assigned to airborne units. And when my assigned weapon was not the M60, then I would get assigned to carry the PRC-77 radio. So yes I know a thing or two about rucking extra weight.

Now go strap on a 75-80 pound ruck sack, carry the M60 machine gun with 1000-1500 rounds of ammunition along with your main and backup parachute before you say anything else about how I supposedly don't know anything about carrying weight.

I was also a combat engineer so I carried even more stuff than the average infantryman. And I have done so in combat on a few occasions.

Let's break down the weight

• infantryman ruck -70 pounds
• combat engineer ruck - 75-80 pounds
• Main and reserve parachutes - 53 pounds.
• M60 machine gun unloaded - 23 pounds
• 500 rounds of spare ammo - 35 pounds

Those weights didn't even include any explosives or mines I also had to carry. 

You showed your rear again by assuming that I don't have any experience rucking heavy weights. And we all know what assume actually means.

[CoffeeTime]

May God bless and comfort your joints and spine. Thank you for your service!

Best Regards!

[WRYZ926]

And yes we all know the dangers of lithium batteries and how hard they are to put out if they catch fire. But a lead acid battery can explode just as easily when abused.

Most combat vehicle, AKA tanks, use a bank of 8 12v DC batteries hooked up in series/parallel for 24 volts out. And they are high AH batteries that are needed to start those big V12 diesel engines or turbo shaft engines.  Most armored personnel vehicle use 6 or 8 12V batteries while most wheeled vehicles use 4 batteries. And I have seen those batteries explode when mishandled, abuse, and/or damaged.

One would have to abuse either battery type to have any safety issues.

[WSHH887]

Okay, this got me to thinking. I mentioned in another thread about putting a DB-5 in a sling pack.  But it requires a power source. Turns out I have eight older, but not dead, small 12 volt batteries that came out of an ECV.
I juiced one up, hooked it up to the radio and everything worked. Left it on all night scanning and this morning it's still working. next to see how long it works with intermittent transmissions. 
It's kind of fun finding stuff in my garage and repurposing it for radio use. 

[WSDU488]

On 8/31/2021 at 2:30 PM, wayoverthere said:

Interesting to note what it's drawing on the 120v side of things. Also slightly curious why receiving draw would be different depending on transmit levels.

I was curious what my mxt115 draws, and since my alinco psu has power poles on the front along with a digital display, I put an adapter together and plugged it in, got 1.4A on low power and 3.5A on high, iirc, both at 13.8v.

I have a question, I want to make my retevis mobile and add a battery to it.  what is the smallest battery I can use?  I have found these blue wrapped rechargeable batteries on amazon but which one do i choose?  

[WRYZ926]

23 minutes ago, WSDU488 said:

I have a question, I want to make my retevis mobile and add a battery to it.  what is the smallest battery I can use?  I have found these blue wrapped rechargeable batteries on amazon but which one do i choose?  

It all depends on how long you want to use the radio before having to recharge the battery. How much you transmit will also determine what size battery you will need.

I would start out with a minimum of a 10 amp hour LifPo 4 battery. That will last you from 5-6 hours or longer depending on how much you transmit on 20 watts.

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, WSDU488 said:

I have a question, I want to make my retevis mobile and add a battery to it.  what is the smallest battery I can use?  I have found these blue wrapped rechargeable batteries on amazon but which one do i choose?  

I have similarly thought about turning my Radioddity DB20-G into a porta-pac for easy transportability of a 20 watt rig!

I currently use it with my Jackery Explorer 300, but there’s got to be a more convenient “portable” solution!

Be sure to report back your results!

[wayoverthere]

1 hour ago, WSDU488 said:

I have a question, I want to make my retevis mobile and add a battery to it.  what is the smallest battery I can use?  I have found these blue wrapped rechargeable batteries on amazon but which one do i choose?  

There's really 2 factors to keep in mind when choosing batteries. Overall capacity, and current draw.

@WRYZ926 mentioned the first, as this will play into how long you can run portable.  It's been a bit since I checked the numbers (and don't have the radios handy to check), but i want to say it was around 4a on high power, which would would buy something around 2.5 hours of transmit time on a 10aH battery.  realistically you're likely listening a lot less than transmitting, so the real world use will be longer.

Second consideration, generally, is current draw.  Less of an issue with these smaller radios, but we have to consider how much draw the battery can handle.  the cheaper LiPo batteries i have refer to not drawing more current than their aH rating, which for mine would be a 10a draw on the smaller, and 20a on the larger (mine are Ecoworthy, and the 10aH is roughly the side of a standard red brick).  

Here is a quick example, and their table claims 5.2aH, and can handle a 15.6a draw, and if one isn't transmitting much should be able to last a couple hours at minimum.

[WRYZ926]

10 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

Second consideration, generally, is current draw.  Less of an issue with these smaller radios, but we have to consider how much draw the battery can handle.  the cheaper LiPo batteries i have refer to not drawing more current than their aH rating, which for mine would be a 10a draw on the smaller, and 20a on the larger (mine are Ecoworthy, and the 10aH is roughly the side of a standard red brick).

 

This is true. I dd not mention it since he was asking about batteries for a 20 watt radio. The current draw of a 20 watt radio won't exceed the battery output of a 10 amp hour battery. 

I would not recommend trying to transmit on a 50 watt radio on high power. You will be at or above the 10 amps of the battery as most 50 watt radios draw 12-14 amps on transmit at high power. Some will draw 8 or 10 amps but why push one's luck. I will recommend a 40 or 50 amp hour battery for a 50 watt radio if you want it to last very long.

The more one transmits the quicker the battery will discharge.

People that do Parks On The Air with QRP radios with 5-10 watts output power will run smaller batteries but those don't last very long even then.